Mhsc

That's not true though is it. This game has had nothign to do with the system so far and everything to do with players making embarrassing school boy errors

Is that Malo LW?

Is kick off delayed or streams behind?

Not yet but you don't rush making a signing purely based on a short term fitness problem in one guy. The squad is mostly fit and we do have options: Guiu, Nkunku, and even Cole Palmer could play there as a false 9.

I don't think so, I like Marc but we are already stacked there and he is similar tier to players we already have imo

As in part of a box midfield, not in the pivot but one of the two midfielders behind the striker. I dunno whether to call it a double 10 or call them left and right 8s... It is not exactly a traditional system where the numbers make complete sense.

It is interesting Maresca has mentioned he considers Nkunku as someone who can play as a 9, a winger or an 8 but hasn't tried him anywhere other than as an 8 all preseason. I guess he considers that more of an emergency option than a serious one.

I am thrilled tbh - my main ask for the new manager was just get someone who wants to play positional football and will coach them in patterns. I think it is even more important when you have an inexperienced group. I do think a group of top, talented 25-30 year olds could still compete and maybe win PL playing non-positional football, where they just decide in every situation based on their experience and creativity what to do - but that's just not our situation. When you've got a bunch of young, inexperienced lads that are very talented but still learning the game, the only chance you have to win in the short term is via coaching good patterns of play into them to bridge the experience gap.

Osimhen rumours seem to have gone quiet. Julian Alvarez ones quiet too. Beier was the latest rumour I saw with Villa and us both interested as he has a 30m clause and out performed his xG in a great year last year and only 21 years old...very Clearlake type signing, if that goes anywhere. Certainly seems like the club think NJ+Guiu is not the answer at the mo. I wonder if they have in mind that NJ could sort out the winger problem if we had a good no. 9?

https://www.fullreplays.com/friendly/club-friendlies/Chelsea-vs-club-america-31-jul-2024/ This is where I watched it. Personally I watch on 1.5x or 2x speed when its not live...

Ha, finally watched the game (in 2x speed) its funny how the result makes everything feel different. Not really sure we leapt forward that much from previous games but we ended up winning this one 3-0. They were woeful and conceded two stupid pens, we are still looking pretty raw imo - VERY wasteful of the opportunities we create, but in general we still need to improve with and without the ball a lot. Bright sides for me were Sanchez really showing something this game, he was much better with his feet and played with supreme confidence. Another amazing save. A few lads like Lavia and Nkunku also look great - imo we totally would have got top 4 last season if they were both fit. Madueke is so far a very frustrating player, almost unplayable in some situations but then fails to take advantage of his own brilliance. Playing with swagger is great but you've got to be a team player and humble at the same time, only people like Ronaldo can get away with a lot of the selfish decisions he's making, because they're that good. I imagine he will be starting on the bench in PL if everyone is fit and available based on what we've seen so far.

I would imagine he would be looking at it as "I can break into this team and play this year" which is exactly the mentality you've got to have as a top player. If he chooses to leave then I'm happy for him, if he chooses to stay then I'm happy for him. He seems like a good guy and we lose a bit of our identity when guys like this leave the club. It is not his fault the style of play has moved away from the one he excels in.

Haven't watched the replay yet, but it looks like an interesting example of how this kind of system really thrives when you have a lead and need to convert it, given we basically went ahead 1 minute in. We had a lot of trouble last year converting when we were ahead and I think Maresca ball will be 10x better at doing that honestly.

I don't blame him tbh. If the club don't value or respect you why should you do them any favours? I'd 100% do the same. He can get a HUGE signing fee in a years time and go onto huge wages that will set him up for life, or force the club to make him a proper contract offer that will do similar and keep him at the club he fundamentally wants to be at. Feels very different to the Mason Mount situation given he was offered a very long deal on tonnes of money and it wasn't enough for him and he thought he was literally the dogs bollocks and had no real interest in staying at Chelsea except for money and couldn't wait to get out. Gallagher's stance has been exactly correct (whether it is true or not who knows): this is the club I love and I just want to stay and be part of it, offer me a long term deal on par with my peers and you'll have my loyalty forever. Honestly Chelsea boys like Gallagher and Chalobah I just wish the best for them personally man they've done nothing but be servants for the club and represented us with pride since they were kids, living the dream that lots of us had growing up following Chels. Neither of them out there trying to build some kind of brand for themselves or think they're bigger than the club. They just want what is fair.

With a year left on your contract it has to be very tempting to see it out. He could make a literal fortune in a years time.

That was rumoured earlier in the window and then nothing happened. I don't believe it tbh. No way he's going for more than £10m (which would be generous).

I wonder if he will accept? Could make a fortune if he just sees out his contract and joins somewhere on a free. Albeit might essentially waste a year of his career to do it...

Di Marzio is a known fraud but even a broken clock is right twice a day, would be surprising if they're actually open to a loan with no obligation (unless Lukaku is also a loan with no obligation)

Loan with £58m obligation to buy if we qualify for CL with him scoring say 15 PL goals and you got a deal

It is basically the same system that Pep and Arteta play with some minor twists from Maresca himself. It is the same system that has been winning the PL basically nonstop. Reece James is obviously one of the best fullbacks in the world when bombing forward but he's also completely unable to stay fit when playing like that. Obviously, we could play 3 ATB with James and Chilly as wingbacks again, and it would get results for the 2 to 3 games that the both stayed fit and before people start to figure out the system again, as they did at the end of Tuchel's reign. It is a 2nd tier system that has been displaced by the new approach which is the one you are campaigning against. But it would work for a little while and make everyone feel real good, for sure. A short term sticking plaster to make you feel good. Maresca could even do that in preseason. But instead he's putting in the grind for long term success instead of chasing short term highs in meaningless preseason games.

London is way warmer than Manchester... Where would he even go that is warm and can afford him? Not many options these days outside of PL if you want money. I mean, he probably could make a nice career for himself in warm California if he really wants... Or in Saudi. But most of European teams in warm weather are either broke af or don't need/want him surely.

There's still Alvarez, but not sure the club has the money or appetite. The club might just sit tight and let Maresca assess the squad in preseason for a while. Interesting opportunities always emerge in the market as times goes on, clubs make moves, managers decide certain players fit their system or not during preseason, etc. I am sure plenty of interesting opportunities will emerge as the window goes on. Plus, there are always potential swap deals when we are selling Gallagher, Chalobah etc. Personally I have the feeling we'll go for a striker to compete with NJ who will not be amazing but look alright and have potential, aka the standard signing we go for these days. It will probably be someone we don't really want, like the guy at Atletico.

Whilst I agree with selling Trev from a business PoV (because of the way the financial rules work) it is a bit gut wrenching whenever we push out a lad who's been with us since he was 8. Literally turned this guy into a professional footballer and he just wants to play for Chels. Really wish we could find a way to keep those kind of guys and just push out the Money Mases that come through. Financial rules basically force us into it though.

Alvarez + Valles and we would be in a great place imo. I don't think Alvarez is likely though.

Even last season we almost got top 4, and for now at least we have Fofana, Nkunku, Lavia and Reece James fit. We should be much more solid in defence under the new manager but may score a few less goals. Personally I don't understand the pessimism - for myself I'd predict we will at least get top 6, but am optimistic we could get 3rd. Truth is the league is crazy hard now but predicting below top 6 is just silly. Imo where we could perhaps be a little pessimistic is about whether the season will actually be enjoyable. Maresca-ball is all about control and patience. It could be quite tedious. But there is really no basis to predict we will perform worse than last year, where we were both unlucky and horrendously poorly managed for 90% of the season.